New twist to ‘war’ in Ukraine

Kiev: Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Tuesday that his government had made the first “timid” contacts with Russian leaders aimed at resolving the crisis in his ex-Soviet state.

The dramatic announcement came four days after President Vladimir Putin won Parliament’s authorisation to use force against Russia’s neighbour after months of protests swept pro-Kremlin leaders from power and installed a new team. There was no immediate response from Russia to Yatsenyuk’s comments and the Ukranian premier himself stood firmly behind his government’s decision to distance itself from Moscow’s rule.

But the contacts came in the midst of a visit to Kiev by US Secretary of State John Kerry and appeared to reflect combined efforts by Washington and its European allies to prevent an all-out confrontation from flaring up.